Recap: Jo is being led by a scary looking female Corrections officer into a scary looking detention center where the inmates are all screeching at each other. Later, she's summoned from her cramped cell to meet with her attorney, a bumbling public defender who introduces himself as Benjamin Skyler. He gives her a disdainful once over and informs her that she's a suspected drug dealing murderer...and when Jo tries to explain that she killed Reed in self defense, he unhelpfully tells her that that's the kind of thing that can happen when one goes out to sea with a sketchy ex-con who's so clearly up to no good. Jo stares back at him incredulously, insists she knew nothing of the drugs, and asks him if he's not supposed to be defending her - as opposed to lecturing her about her [disastrous] choice of lovers. Benjamin tells her that he generally doesn't believe anyone is innocent, despite the country's guiding principle of everyone's innocent until proven guilty, and that he can only defend her effectively if she tells him the truth. A few seconds later, the DA (Quinton Benson) enters the room to tell Jo that he's prepared to deal her case down if she's willing to provide information about Reed's big drug deal, but Jo snappishly retorts that she doesn't know anything 'bout that, that she killed Reed in self defense, and wants to exercise her right to make a damn phone call. Quinton shoots her the stink-eye and says he had been prepared to offer her more than just a phone call, but suddenly doesn't feel so generous anymore. Seems ridiculously thin-skinned for a DA...and I know I'm a recapper not a lawyer, but but doesn't the DA usually have a tête-à-tête with the defense attorney to formally offer the terms of a plea deal, which the defense attorney then presents to the client with some accompanying legal advice? Jo uses her one phone call to contact Jake, who immediately rushes over to the jail to inquire about posting bail. He's rudely told by the desk clerk that bail will be set at Jo's arraignment hearing tomorrow...and that since there's no chance in hell he's going to be allowed to see her before then, he might as well fuck off and go home. Over at Escapade Magazine, Celia admonishes Billy for walking out on the New York job for the sake of his relationship with Alison, then tells him she's extra pissy 'cause the job (which she would have happily accepted and not walked out on) has already been filled by someone at the New York office. Celia gets extra extra pissy when Alison chooses that moment to phone and invite Billy for lunch so they can discuss his [yet unresponded to] marriage proposal, and Billy agrees to meet her at 1pm, then quickly hangs up the phone when he's summoned to Nancy Donner's office to find out if he still has a job. Amanda overhears the tail end of Alison's call with Billy and snidely refers to him as "the boomerang boyfriend who's back from New York". An irked Alison tells her that her relationship with Billy is none of her business, but Amanda argues that an unstable relationship with a bonehead can adversely affect one's job performance. Alison smugly tells her that things with her and Billy are so solid that he proposed to her last night, and Amanda calls the proposal "a wonderful gesture", but advises her to think long and hard before marrying someone who's done some shameful stuff he's never told her about. As she sashays off, Alison's all, "Wuh?" and stares after her looking perplexed. In the courtyard, Jane encounters Sydney, who's carrying a box of her personal things, and asks whassup. Sydney tells her she's moving out of Melrose Place...and by moving out of Melrose Place she means she's blackmailing Michael into agreeing to let her squat in the spare bedroom of his beach house. When Jane stares at her in shocked befuddlement and tells her that this is the worst thing she's ever done (not counting the various times she's literally prostituted herself), Sydney explains that she's embarking upon an adult relationship with Michael, has somehow deluded herself into believing it's true love, and that if her own sister can't be happy for her, she can go pee up a rope.
Billy and Alison are eating hot dogs while strolling through a park and discussing their future. Alison tells Billy she'd be willing to accept his proposal if he can explain what in blazes Amanda meant when she alluded to secrets he's been keeping from her. Billy plays dumb and pretends he has no earthly idea what she could be talking about, and urges her to forget about the past and focus on moving forward. Alison mulls that over, seems satisfied enough with that response, and happily tells him the wedding is officially on. Jake implores Amanda to help Jo with her various financial and legal connections, but Amanda says she'd prefer to steer clear of Jo 'cause of her concern that the authorities will interpret her financial investment in Reed's faux boat charter venture as financing for his drug business. She adds that if Jo really did kill Reed in self defense, her lawyer will easily prove that in court. (She obviously hasn't met that inept fucktard.) Jake glares at her, accuses her of having zero integrity, and angrily stalks off. Jo, meanwhile, is locked up in her jail cell, huddled in a corner and trying to look as haunted and freaked out as possible. Jo has another meeting with Benjamin Skyler, who informs her that her arraignment is in three hours... and that he's not remotely hopeful it's going to go well. He urges her to spill everything she knows about the drug deal, or risk being charged with Murder One...and Jo somehow refrains from:
Benjamin half-heartedly promises to give her the best defense he can...and by the best defense he can, he means he's going to keep his fingers crossed that she changes her mind and confesses to a drug deal she had nothing to do with. He then packs up his papers and leaves the room. Jake gives Billy and Alison an update on Jo's current predicament, and they all agree they need to put their heads together and think of a way to come up with enough cash to cover her bail. When he wryly says that Amanda was less than helpful when he pleaded for her to chip in, Alison rolls her eyes and mutters, "Why am I not surprised?" Sydney is in happy homemaker mode as she makes Michael waffles for breakfast. He grumbles at her to cut the shit with the "sunshine act", but she argues that it's not an act, and that she's soooooo happy their togetherness is finally out in the open. Michael snappishly reminds her that she's blackmailing him into shacking up together, then angrily dumps his coffee and the waffles onto the counter and bitterly snarls that the only reason she's even in his house is 'cause she's putting a gun to his head. At the arraignment, a dismayed Jo watches Benjamin fumble around as he searches for her case file. He then glares at her disapprovingly and asks, "I don't suppose you've changed your mind..?" and Jo once again emphasizes that she has zero knowledge about anything related to Reed's drug dealing. The DA rises and requests that Jo be charged with Murder One and held without bail, and Benjamin counters that a request for bail be set at 100K, and ignores the Murder One part. The DA argues that Jo doesn't have particularly strong ties to the community and was arrested on a weapons charge in Season 1, and Benjamin shrugs helplessly and says that, nope, he definitely can't argue with that.
The judge is about to remand Jo to the county jail when famed attorney Walter Kovacs strides into the courtroom to inform the impressed judge that he's been retained by a family friend to represent Jo - just as Amanda slips into the room and nods her approval at the good deed she just orchestrated. When Jo tells the judge that this arrangement meets with her approval, Benjamin gathers his things and leaves, and Walter requests a continuance for twenty-four hours so he can review the case. The judge agrees...and Billy ambles over to Amanda and applauds her for doing such a nice thing for Jo. She responds by congratulating him on his engagement, and he tells her he's going to start his marriage out right by 'fessing up to Alison about their recent liaison. Amanda looks horrified and says she doesn't want Jake finding out about that, but Billy points out that he can't fully rely on her to keep her big trap shut. Over at the hospital, Michael is dismayed to see Sydney chatting up his boss, Dr. Levin. He's further dismayed when Dr. Levin tells him to lighten up, and that he credits Sydney with helping him get off painkillers. He then tells Michael to stop by his office later so they can discuss putting him back on the doctors' rotation schedule, but warns that he won't tolerate anymore screw-ups. Jake tells Amanda he's grateful for all she's doing to help Jo, and Amanda credits him with piling so much guilt atop her that she felt compelled to not just sit back and watch Jo risk getting a twenty year prison sentence. She then changes the subject and confesses to having a one night stand with Billy while they were broken up...and Jake responds with a bitter chuckle - but quickly assures her he's not angry with her 'cause he feels it's somehow reasonable to place all of the blame for the mutual indiscretion squarely on Billy. Alison visits Jo in jail and assures her she's going to be released in time to be her maid of honor...and Jo's all, "Wuhh?" and squeals about how happy she is for her, and that she fervently hopes her prediction comes true. Michael arrives home and is dismayed that Sydney's in the process of receiving a shipment of new furniture and is referring to herself to the deliverymen as Mrs. Mancini. When Michael's all, "The fuck?", she explains that she borrowed one of his credit cards to buy a bunch of stuff to make this beach house a cozy home. Michael argues that he can't afford it, orders her to return everything she just purchased, and to get it through her thick skull that the only Mrs. Mancini is his mother. Sydney furrows her brows at him and warns that he's making her mad, and that bad things can happen when she gets mad. Jake and Amanda visit Jo in jail and discuss the progress they're assuming Walter is making with her case. As Jake promises to somehow come up with a way to scrape together enough cash for her bail, Amanda announces that she's willing to put up the Melrose Place complex as collateral for the 100K 'cause she's tired of getting the stink-eye from Jake for not helping out more, and figures that she (Jo) is a fairly low flight risk. Jo stares back at her in mute gratitude, then solemnly thanks her for all of her help.
Jake and Amanda escort a newly freed Jo to Melrose Place...and when Amanda tells Jo that the gang planned a party at Shooters to jointly celebrate her freedom and Billy's/Alison's engagement, Jo declines and says she just wants to crawl into bed. She expresses her deepest gratitude to Amanda for all of her help, then goes upstairs to her apartment. At Shooters, Alison makes a toast celebrating Jo's freedom and the imminent end of Billy's freedom. Har har. Jake rolls his eyes and tells Amanda he desperately wants to leave...but a few seconds later, Billy approaches him to affably offer him a drink and ask him to be his best man. Jake snarls, "Go to hell, you son-of-a-bitch!" and punches Billy in the face, then storms out as the confused partygoers are all, "Wha-a-at just happened?!" Amanda tells Alison she was afraid this would happen, then spills the beans about her and Billy recently hitting the sheets. Alison glares at her in shocked bewilderment before storming out of the bar, and Billy shakes his head at Amanda and growls at how unbelievable she is. The next morning, Billy sheepishly admits to Alison that he lacked the courage to tell her about his indiscretion with Amanda and now assumes that their engagement is off. Alison coos about how much his black eye must hurt, then assures him she doesn't blame him for whatever he did while she was so near coitus with Steve. She says that the wedding is definitely on - but that if he ever lies to her again, she'll punish him far worse than Jake. Billy emerges from his apartment just as Jake is getting out of the pool. He tries to talk to Jake, but Jake snarls at him to back off and stomps to his apartment. Dr. Levin tells Michael that Sydney just called and said she has an emergency, and orders him to rush home to see what the little woman needs. Michael argues that he's sure it's nothing and that he'd much prefer to assist with the surgery he was about to scrub in for, but Dr. Levin firmly says no and reminds him that Sydney has turned his life around ever since he indulged in the drunken joyride that "killed" Kimberly. Jo is nervously standing in the courtroom as the judge consults with Walter and the DA. A few seconds later, the judge decrees that self defense in this case has been proven, and that all of the charges against Jo are hereby dismissed. Jo stares at her lawyer in disbelief and cries with relief...but then is all, "Huh?" as Walter explains that the DA was only threatening her with a Murder One charge in order to suss out intel about Reed's drug deal. When the authorities examined the boat, they quickly concluded that she shot Reed in self defense and most likely didn't know anything about the drugs. Walter derisively refers to Reed as scum, and Jo responds by mournfully staring back at him and moaning, "But I loooooved him." What a hopeless, stupid moron. Michael storms into the beach house and growls at Sydney for telling his boss she has an emergency, and she reacts by smilingly telling him they need to start planning their wedding and honeymoon asap. Michael shoots her an extra squinty-eyed stink-eye for pulling him out of a surgery to discuss her "demented fantasies". Looking as incredulous as possible, he snappishly asks, "You seriously want to get married?" ... and Sydney translates that to an actual marriage proposal and gaily replies, "Oh Michael! I thought you'd never ask!" LOL.
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MELROSE PLACE HOMEPAGE
Recapper: Isabel K. French 
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